Chapter 39: The Unrecognized Traveler (1)

No, he wasn’t Thors. Aibel was the first to recover from her shock—after all, Thors had been her husband’s most prized apprentice, and she was confident she couldn’t have mistaken him.
That little brat, Thors, though possessing astonishingly great strength, was still just a boy of about fifteen or sixteen. The man before her, roughly estimated to be between twenty-two and twenty-three years old, could definitely not be Thors.
Moreover, there were obvious differences in their build and appearance, especially in hair and eye color…
Yet it was unbelievable—how could they be so similar? She had never heard that brat mention having a twin brother!
With various doubtful suspicions in mind, Aibel stepped forward and asked in a stern voice, “You’re not Thors. Who are you?”
“Thors?” The mysterious mage, who resembled Thors so much, smirked disdainfully, bowed slightly to Aibel, and then said calmly, “You may call me Belial, respected Lady Aibel Kaines!”
“You…” Aibel’s face showed surprise. Her grandfather, the great mage Gret Kaines, had only visited Vandel a few times in twenty years, and she felt quite uneasy about it. That’s why she referred to herself as Aibel in front of others but never added her surname. Her fame stemmed solely from her role as a representative of Vandel and her husband’s solo challenge to Argus. Yet this man seemed to know a great deal about her…
What was even more unbelievable was that, despite being certain he had nothing to do with Thors, Aibel faintly saw Thors in that cold face…
“Who are you?!” Aibel asked again, her tone grave and suspicious.
“Hah,” the mysterious mage named Belial shook his head slightly, seemingly unwilling to continue this pointless conversation. He raised his right hand and said in a deep voice, “I want you to hand over the [Secrets of Astrology] written by the former prophet, renowned astrologer, and sage Adrian Klinch!”
Aibel was stunned and instinctively exchanged a glance with Berny Givs, the astonished chief elder of Vandel.

The former prophet, renowned astrologer, and sage Adrian Klinch was one of the few outstanding astrologers in Vandel’s history. He was once honored as both a “Prophet” and a “Sage.” His book, “The Secrets of Astrology,” was regarded by astrologers as a sacred text, containing countless insights into the art of astrology…

How could that guy know about this? The existence of “The Secrets of Astrology” in Vandel was practically a closely guarded secret!

Unavoidably, the elders of Vandel exchanged skeptical looks, especially the chief elder, Bernie Givens, who couldn’t help but stare at the young man who claimed to be Belial with a mixture of shock and anger. “You… were you once one of us from Vandel?”

It wasn’t surprising that the old man was so astonished—after all, few people in the world knew such a secret, not even Thos.

The suspicion on Abel’s face grew even more evident.

Although she had considered training her husband’s apprentice, Thos, to become a capable successor to lead Vandel—given that the elders were too old and she herself was a woman and thus somewhat powerless in many matters—unfortunately, Thos was still too young. Though he possessed great power as an apostle, he was only about sixteen years old and far from strong enough to bear the burden of preserving Vandel’s long history. For this reason, Abel planned to train him for a few more years.

But this guy before her… was he from Vandel?

Including Abel, those dozens of senior professors from Vandel racked their brains, but sadly, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t recall anything about that guy named Belial. After all, compared to the dazzling Heliorox Academy, Vandel had been almost isolated from the outside world. With just a few dozen people in Vandel Delta, it was absolutely impossible to forget someone!

“Stop wasting your effort, Elders of Vandel,” Belial said, his cold eyes showing a fleeting trace of inexplicable kindness as he watched the elders ponder with lowered heads. Then, he repeated in a icy tone, “Hand over the Astrological Secrets, or do you prefer to let this ancient Tower of Thunder be destroyed by me?” As he spoke, an extremely intense dark aura spread around him. Within that mist-like darkness, the head of a ferocious beast could be faintly seen roaring. The overwhelming pressure seemed to stir a strange wind within Vandel, forcing the black magicians to take a few steps back.

Who the hell is this guy?

Aibel couldn’t help but compare this man before her to Thors, but she concluded that the pressure this man named Belial exerted on her was even stronger than that of Thors…

What a joke!

Thors, the apprentice of her husband—he was an apostle!

“Give it to me!” Belial said in a deep voice, seemingly losing patience.

“Don’t be so arrogant in Vandel!” One of the black magicians, unable to tolerate Belial’s domineering attitude, raised his wand. But before he could cast any spell, Belial’s gaze changed, and a powerful pressure, like a tangible force, sent the magician flying and slamming him against the inner wall of Vandel—just with a glance.

“How… how is that possible?!” Apart from the elders, the other black magicians showed terrified expressions, as they hadn’t sensed any magical fluctuations from him. In other words, he had repelled a magician without using magic at all. How could such a thing happen?

“Stupid!” Belial snapped coldly, staring at the magician struggling to get up from the ground. A faint red glow appeared in his eyes. Soon, the magician’s body gradually became thin and transparent.

Realizing something was wrong, some black magicians exclaimed in shock, “Puli, hey, your body…”

“Huh?” The magician named Puli glancedconfusedly at those who cried out, instinctively checking his own body before letting out a terrified scream.

“What… what’s going on? My… my body… No, don’t… no…”

Under everyone’s breathless gaze, Puri grew increasingly transparent amid continuous wails, eventually disappearing completely from sight without leaving any trace.
“What’s going on?”
“He’s really gone…” The mages whispered in horror.
Amid their utterly terrified expressions—
Belial glanced around coldly, stretched out his right hand, and said in a threatening tone, “You think you can stop me? Hahaha, how ridiculous! No one can stop what I, Belial, decide to do… Not even… gods! So, don’t force me to use force—hand over the [Astrological Secrets] right away!”
Under Belial’s overwhelming presence, even the elders of Vandel stepped back two steps. Looking at this mysterious figure who had suddenly appeared in Vandel, they felt as though they were looking up at a deity.
“How is this possible…” Professor Welman stared at Belial in horror, murmuring in disbelief, “That power just now—definitely not something humans could possess. And this… such pressure—how is this possible… It’s practically… a demi-god!”
A demi-god?!
Aibel’s eyes filled with shock. She had heard that due to the emergence of Apostles, the current levels of magic had become too chaotic. To categorize these levels, the idle elders of Vandel defined those above the [Beyond Ordinary Archmage] level as [Demi-Gods], meaning those who possessed divine power.
In simple terms, Sos was still only at the [Beyond Ordinary Archmage] level, while Argus, whom he defeated, was already a fully realized Apostle, thus approaching the [Demi-God] level… In other words, this man named Belial had even greater power than Argus and Sos!
But more than that, Aibel was concerned about the extraordinary power he had used earlier—power beyond human comprehension. She was almost certain it was the power of the ancient will, Sloth: [Erasing Existence].

Over the past few months, the elders of Vandel have also been studying the power of the ancient wills. After all, Thors is one of the best examples. Combining this with some vague information left in ancient ruins, the elders discovered that in that endless world of darkness, there are seven most powerful eternal beings who serve as the rulers of the dark world, standing above all dark forces.

Greed, Arrogance, Lust, Sloth, Anger, Jealousy, and Gluttony—these seven ancient wills govern the entire dark world as well as all negative emotions in living beings. They feed on these negative emotions and grow stronger over time. In their eyes, humans are probably just mere sources of amusement.

In ancient texts, these seven ancient wills are defined as Satan-level demon kings, a rank even higher than the rulers of the Land of Death or the Immortal Kings. They have almost become legends, with no force capable of resisting them. Even the brilliant prehistoric civilization that human magicians have long sought out was destroyed because of their presence.

According to the records, the ancient wills are powerful beings who originated in the third dimension and were the first ancient life forms to appear in the world. They are not bound by time or energy decay and maintain their supreme power forever. However, due to certain laws, they cannot directly influence beings in the fourth dimension like humans; they can only do so through “apostles.”

Apostles can be seen as beings that borrow the power of these ancient wills. Through various forms of power exchange, the ancient wills enter contracts with apostles. As long as the apostles do not violate the commands of the ancient wills, they can continue to receive their support. For example, Argus chose death at the last moment to end his sins rather than continue fulfilling his agreement with Mammon, so he was abandoned by Mammon.

The contract terms for each ancient will vary. For instance, Mammon, the ancient will behind Argus and the embodiment of Greed, desperately desires to dominate everything, so he is eager to come to this world. But for Slos, the ancient will behind Thors and the embodiment of Sloth, it seems he has no such urgent desire to descend to this world. As the embodiment of Sloth, Slos didn’t even give Thors any commands—perhaps because it’s “too troublesome”…

However, the power that each ancient will can lend to an apostle is limited and cannot exceed the laws of this world. The more apostles sign a contract, the less power the apostles can obtain. Thus, each ancient will basically has only one apostle at a time.

For Abel, this was precisely why she was puzzled. She was certain that the divine power used by that guy named Belial was clearly the [Power of Evasion] possessed by Sloth, the embodiment of [Laziness], a force that deceived the laws of this world to completely erase anything it did not acknowledge—what is known as [Erasing Existence].

But the problem was, Sloth’s apostle was that little brat, Thos. That brat had not been abandoned by Sloth, nor was there any sign that Sloth had two apostles. So why could this man before her use Sloth’s power?

Unless… there were two Sloths in this world…

Tch! How could such a ridiculous thing exist!

Abel knew well that each ancient will represented a negative emotion, as they were combinations of countless negative forces. Therefore, the idea of two Sloths was utterly absurd. Yet this still failed to explain what had just happened.

Just as Abel was utterly confused, Berny Givs, the Grand Elder of Vandel, spoke after a long silence, saying something that shocked everyone present.

“Young man, the all-knowing stars tell me that your existence is not recognized by this world. You… are not from this world! Right?”

Amidst everyone’s astonished gazes, Belial laughed heartily and, looking at Grand Elder Berny Givs, said with a smirk, “As expected of Vandel’s Grand Elder, the most outstanding astrologist of our time. You really couldn’t escape my gaze…”

“Incredible…” Elder Bernie Jeffs nodded slightly, gazing at Belial with an oddly admiring look as he murmured, “I once thought I was the most knowledgeable person in this world when it came to spatial magic. But… I couldn’t even traverse dimensions, let alone use spatial teleportation to enter Vandel from outside. Yet you, young man, can actually travel through time and space…” He sighed softly, staring at Belial with his cloudy eyes and said gravely, “Don’t rush to deny it. I’m sure you’re not a pure dark magician, young man, because I can sense the [Aether] power unique to us astrologers within your body…”

“Heh,” Belial chuckled lightly and said calmly, “I have no intention of denying it, Elder… But since you’ve guessed it, you should understand the gap in power between us. I don’t want to say anything rude to the elders of Vandel, but… even if you all attack together, your fate will still be to die here. Is that acceptable?”

“Amazing, young man. You’re the most talented person I’ve ever seen,” said Elder Bernie Jeffs, staring at Belial for a long time before suddenly asking in a deep voice, “Please answer me honestly, young man. Who taught you spatial magic?”

“What do you think?” Belial replied with a half-smile.

“…” As if having received some information, Elder Bernie Jeffs seemed to age by a dozen years all at once. He gazed at Belial with a complex expression and murmured, “So that’s how it is… No wonder you know about the Existence of the Astrological Secrets…” He paused, holding his walking stick, and said solemnly, “But I can’t hand over our astrologers’ sacred texts to you, because I sense an evil aura within your body…”

“Oh?” Belial looked at Elder Bernie Jeffs and said with a light laugh, “So what do you plan to do?”

“Don’t you understand?—Of course, I’ll teach you, you ungrateful student who’s gone down the wrong path, a proper lesson from my self in another world!” Suddenly, a pale blue trident-shaped magic array appeared beneath the elder’s feet. It was a magic array unique to astrologers, with the three rings at the corners of the trident symbolizing [Past], [Present], and [Future].

“Huh?” A faint smile appeared on Belial’s face as he shook his head and said, “I advise you not to do that…” His eyes took on a cruel expression as he added in a low voice, “Because I don’t want to kill you a second time!”
“You…” Even the Grand Elder Bernie Jeffs was momentarily intimidated by Belial’s overwhelming pressure.
“Stop it, Thos!” At that moment, Abel, as if having guessed something, shouted instinctively, “How dare you be so rude to the Grand Elder…”
Before Abel could finish speaking, the black magicians began discussing among themselves.
“Thos? Is that Thos?”
“Impossible! I saw that kid not long ago. How could it be…”
“He’s a pretty good kid…”
“Yes…”
Amidst the black magicians’ chatter, Belial smiled faintly and said expressionlessly, “I’ve said it before—my name is Belial!”
“Alright, Belial,” Abel took a deep breath, stepped beside Grand Elder Bernie Jeffs, and looked at Belial solemnly. “To be honest, I’m shocked, but now isn’t the time to consider this. Tell me, Belial, why do you need the Astrological Records?”
“It’s simple,” Belial said coldly with a slight smirk. “Because at that time, I was careless and failed to control my power, destroying the entire Vandel… So, they’re gone now!”
“You!” Abel’s eyes showed anger as he looked at Belial and said in a low voice, “You actually did such a thing…”
“Didn’t I say it?” Belial narrowed his eyes indifferently. “My name is Belial. No one can stop what I want. Even if it means going against the entire world, I’ll get what I want! —The Astrological Records. Give them to me, and I’ll leave right away. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise you’ll destroy Vandel a second time, is that it?” Abel said, suppressing his anger.
But in the face of such angry Abel, Belial replied calmly, “Yes! —That’s exactly it!”
“I never thought you’d turn into this…”
“Hah?” A mocking smile appeared on Belial’s face as he glanced at Abel and the elders of Vandel with a complex expression before saying in a low voice, “When I made that decision, I was already prepared to go against the entire world. Believe me, if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll kill everyone and destroy this place completely!”

At that moment, the entire Vandel suddenly experienced violent tremors, accompanied by an extremely angry voice.
“Kill everyone? Destroy Vandel? Turn it to rubble? I can’t just pretend I didn’t hear that, you bastard!”
“Hm?” Belial showed some surprise on his face, which was quickly replaced by resignation. Shaking his head, he said calmly, “Is it Gadian? Don’t act rashly, Gadian. Do you think that’s how I found the Astrological Secrets back then? — Quite simple: by completely destroying you! Every part, every component…”
“Damn it!” The voice grew even angrier, and the tremors in Vandel intensified further.
“Gadian!” As if sensing something, Abel cried out urgently, “Stop it! Gadian, do you want to destroy this place?”
But the tremors in Vandel wouldn’t stop…
“That guy Gadian has lost his mind,” said Elder Bernie JeffJeffston, pausing his walking stick and speaking quickly. “Everyone, come to me! Now!”
The black magicians, unaware of what was happening, rushed to Elder Bernie JeffJeffston’s side. The elder raised his walking stick, and the triangular magic array beneath his feet expanded. With a flash of blue light, everyone present vanished from their spots.
Only Abel hurried upward toward the upper levels of Vandel Tower, as his son was taking a nap in a room there…
Looking at the empty hall, a hint of fondness appeared in Belial’s eyes as he murmured, “Truly worthy of being an elder—able to teleport so many people at once…” With a snap of his fingers, a black portal-like area appeared beside him.
“Go out first, Cain, Hampa… That guy Gadian is still so violent…”
“Yes, master!”
In an instant, Belial used space magic to teleport outside the tower, to the city of Sgdel. There, Elder Bernie JeffJeffston and the black magicians from the tower were also present.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone except Belial, the entire Vandel Mage Tower underwent severe deformation. Within just a few minutes, it transformed into a giant rock statue thousands of yards tall, with Vandel as its core—a truly astonishing sight for all.

“That guy, Guardian… Let’s leave here for now!” With a slight sigh, the Grand Elder Bernie Giffes once again used a large-scale space teleportation spell to send the nearby dark magicians outside the city. Fortunately, due to the re-establishment of Vando City, most of Sgder’s dark magicians had already moved there; otherwise… hehe!

Looking at the enormous size of that rock giant, even Hampa, the demon god, couldn’t help but feel terrified. He murmured, “This… this, master…”

“Why panic?” Glancing at Hampa, Belial raised his head to gaze at the rock giant and said calmly, “This is Vandel’s true form—a war weapon created by the magnificent Mekand. Guardian Guardian!”

“Roar!” The giant rock statue, towering over a thousand yards high, let out a deafening roar. It then raised a fist as big as a city and smashed it down at Belial with great force. With a loud crash, almost the entire Sgder was completely destroyed by that powerful impact, leaving deep, bottomless craters.

“Huh!” Belial, who had dodged the attack using teleportation magic, stood outside Sgder’s city. With a slight sigh, he shook his head and said, “I forgot. I shouldn’t have said anything about destroying Vandel and killing everyone in front of that guy… It provoked him…”

Beside Belial, the King Puppet Kane said in a deep voice, “Things are getting troublesome now…”

“Heh,” Belial chuckled lightly and said calmly, “It’s nothing. It’s just destroying him again. The real problem is that I’m afraid I won’t be able to control my strength. If I destroy it too thoroughly, won’t our journey be in vain?”

“That’s true, master!”

While they were discussing, the enormous Guardian Guardian seemed to notice Belial’s location. It turned its massive body and raised its sky-covering fist once again.

“I’ve been detected by the Wind Pyramid. How troublesome!” Belial sighed slightly. Then his expression changed, his eyes turning cold as he said in a low voice, “Don’t mistake my patience for cowardice, Guardian!” With that, a strange red light flashed in his eyes as he ordered in a deep voice, “[Disappear]!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the giant fist, as massive as a rock, vanished without a trace in an instant.

“Roar!”

Looking up at the extremely angry guardian Gadian, Belial sneered and said, “You think you can stop me?” With that, he raised his right hand and aimed it at Gadian’s heart, saying calmly, “I’ve already dealt with you once—I know your structure all too well, Gadian! The next strike will go straight at the power system in your heart. If I control the force properly, it won’t cause too much damage to anything inside the tower… Unwilling to hand it over? I’ll just find it myself… Goodbye, Gadian!”
As soon as he finished speaking, intense dark energy began to emanate from his hand. But then his movement stopped, and Gadian, who was about to attack again, also halted—because Eber had appeared in front of Belial using teleportation magic.
“Get away, Eber!” Gadian said in a deep voice, filled with anxiety and concern, his voice like thunder.
Eber turned to glare at Gadian and snapped, “Shut up, idiot! You almost killed my son!”
Gadian seemed to shrink back, as if realizing he had done something wrong, too afraid to speak.
Then Eber turned to Belial, threw a thick magic book into his arms, gave him a deep look, suddenly raised his right hand, and slapped Belial hard in the face. With intense hatred in her voice, she said, “This is from the me in that world for you! You’ve disappointed me so much… Get lost!”
King Cain, who was beside Belial, immediately drew the knight’s sword from his waist, but Belial raised his hand to stop him.
“…” Feeling the burning pain on his left cheek, Belial glanced at the ancient magic book in his hand, smiled self-mockingly, looked at the furious Eber, nodded meaningfully, and said, “Then… I’ll take it!”
With that, he turned around, put on his cloak, and left silently under Eber’s angry gaze.
As he left, King Cain glanced at Belial’s left cheek and hesitantly said, “Master… Lady Eber died of illness!”
“Oh… What are you trying to say?”
“No, I just think…”
“What do you think I would do? Kill her?” Belial sneered. He stopped in his tracks, glanced back in the direction of SgSgDelor -> Sg Delor, and sighed, “I don’t want unnecessary killings. As long as I can achieve my goal, that’s enough… I don’t care about the process!”

“Yes, yes, master…” Kane sighed and shook his head, then said worriedly, “But in that case, the master’s identity will be exposed, and we’ll likely face trouble in the future, especially…”
“Do you think I’ll lose to that brat? What a joke?” With a cold snort, Belial gently stroked the blue crystal necklace hanging around his chest, his expression turning unusually gentle as he murmured, “I just want to see ‘her’ again, to see her smile… I’ll pay any price for that! Even if it means going against the entire world! — Even if it’s that brat, if he dares to stand in my way, I’ll kill him too! Even if he’s the ‘me’ of this world, so what? Hmm?”
“…Yes!”
“Nothing can stop what I, Belial, want to do! Not even gods, not even ‘myself’… I’ll trample over their corpses!”
“Yes, master! — But I think it’s better to be cautious,” Kane said softly, glancing at Belial hesitantly. “Although the master’s power is immense, it’s not a power recognized by this world. Every use drains some of it. For our ultimate goal, I think we need to minimize that consumption as much as possible. In situations like just now, it’s sufficient for my subordinates to handle it; the master really doesn’t need to…”
“Hmm!” Belial frowned and sighed. “Perhaps I was too hasty… I’m sorry, Kane!”
“I didn’t mean that, master…”
“Hehe,” Belial smiled faintly, looking up at the sky with a complex expression as he murmured, “Indeed, haste often leads to trouble. We’ve already failed once—those feelings aren’t pleasant at all…” As he spoke, a strange smile appeared on his lips. Looking at the bewildered demon god Hampa, he said with a half-smile, “It seems we need some help… For example, the warriors of the ancient civilization [Savos]… I hope they’ll obey. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to kill them…”
Hearing those cold and confident words, and recalling the power beyond the world’s understanding that Belial had just used, the demon god Hampa swallowed hard, once again grateful for the decision he had made.